What We Give

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”~Winston S. Churchill

With my two year mark of my blog behind me and my third year beginning I had lots of things to reflect about. As I look back on my last two years of trying to sew every pattern that I have, I’ve realized that my favorite things to sew are the things that make a difference. Any sew I’ve done for charity I’ve enjoyed. Any sew I’ve done that lifts up the receiver in one way or another is also enjoyable. So I sort of set the intention to do more of that.

I had just set that intention and I got a text. A charitable event, that had a raffle, was coming up. I was asked to sew something and donate it. Of course I would!

I got to work on this apron, and chose View C, the one with the chicken!

I had this solid blue fabric, and scraps of the floral fabric that I have been hanging onto for a long time! I thought the floral fabric would be perfect for the chicken.

I cut out all of the pieces and started putting it together.

Here’s a fun view of the front and sides sewn together, looking just like the instructions say it should!

Hemming the sides and back edges. Don’t mind the book on the floor. It’s a giant copy of “The Story of Ferdinand”. It’s one of my favorites, and Mia recently found a giant copy at a second hand store. It was standing up but slid over while I was sewing. Obviously I was too busy to stop and set it right again, HA!

Very carefully sewing on the rick rack. I just happened to have this lovely yellow in my stash, thanks to Grandma Doris! It looks great against the blue fabric and will tie in the fabric that I’m making the chicken out of.

Pinning the neck straps onto the bodice front.

Once they were basted on everything needed to be stitched up!

Working on the waistband.

The chicken is an applique. Here is the chicken body, getting ready to be pinned and sewn into place. The chicken feet, beak and waddle were really small. I cut those out of scrap fabric. It took me a few tries of different techniques before I decided to sew them on with their raw edges exposed. It will give the apron a really rustic look, and was the easiest option.

My mom knew I was sewing the apron, she always knows what I’m up to, HA! She said she had some crocheted dish cloths to contribute to the raffle. If you’ve ever washed dishes with crocheted dish cloths, you know how wonderfully they work!

Here they are, ready to raffle!

The apron was finished, but first let’s talk about the charitable event it and the dish cloths are going to. It’s off to a raffle that will be held at a special dinner in honor of a local woman. This dinner is being held by the HOW of Los Banos. Here’s who they are;

Here’s what they do!

This is how a recipient is chosen.

And here’s the info on the dinner.

If you have any questions or would like to attend this or any other HOW events, you can email [email protected].

If you attend you could possibly go home with this! Who wouldn’t want a super cute, homemade chicken apron? It turned out so cute it will be hard to part with!

Here is a close up of the chicken. I used scraps of rick rack for the tail feathers. I’ve been saving them, knowing I would find a use for them. I’m so glad I did!

I loved being able to use up some scraps of things I’ve been saving, and to put them to good use! The apron is adorable, and was fun to make.

I’m glad to be able to do something to help someone else out. The HOW of Los Banos is a great organization. Thanks to Ashlee for reaching out to me, and letting me and my mom be part of it! (And thanks to Ashlee for being a loyal reader!)

Sometime I guess you have to look for opportunities to help others, and sometimes you just have to set the intention and the opportunity will come to you!

As for me, onto the next!